Event Details

A Time of Resolve - Texas A&M During the Great Depression

Cushing Memorial Library and Archives is excited to announce the opening of a new exhibit, A Time of Resolve, highlighting Texas A&M University during The Great Depression. The Depression-era exhibition will be open in Cushing Library from Friday, August 31st to February 22, 2019.

“The Great Depression saw a worldwide economic crisis that had devastating effects,” said Greg Bailey, University Archivist. “Yet Texas A&M was able to weather the storm considerably well.”

The opening reception of the exhibition will be in Cushing Library from 2:00pm- 4:00pm on Friday, September, 7th. Professor Emeritus David Woodcock will be the featured speaker.

A Time of Resolve takes us on a journey of a growing university in a decade of struggle. The exhibition contains valuable pieces of Texas A&M’s history in the time of the Great Depression. It features the plan for the reorientation of the campus entrance as well as designs for the ten buildings designed by S.C.P. Vosper, including the Administration Building, Chemistry Building, Petroleum Engineering, Geology and Engineering Experiment Station Building and the Veterinary Hospital. Also highlighted are the construction of the Corps Dorms and Easterwood Airport. The men who designed these iconic buildings are showcased as well.

Sports were thriving for the Aggies in the 1930s and the exhibit features memorabilia from Texas A&M’s perfect season in 1939, which captured the school’s last national championship in football.

The exhibition also showcases the struggles A&M had during the Depression-era such as budget cuts, declining student enrollment, allowing certain women to enroll and what the school did to address those situations.

"The exhibit helps to shed light on the troubles the college faced, but also the remarkable growth and impact the college experienced,” said Bailey.

A photo of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s visit to campus in 1937, two 1930’s Corps of Cadet uniforms and Reveille I’s blanket from 1936-37 are also on display.

For more information about the opening or access to the collection, contact Greg Bailey, University Archivist at gtbailey@library.tamu.edu.

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